The Northern District of California sided with California Court of Appeals case Charlotte Russe over conflicting appellate cases Total Call and Swift, finding potential coverage without requirement that the disparaging statement specifically refer to the goods, products, or services of the claimant. Recently, the Northern District of California weighed in on the divergent opinions of the…

In 2012 two published decisions from the California Court of Appeals and one unpublished decision from the Ninth Circuit shed new light on the contours of implicit disparagement coverage under California law. The first such Court of Appeals decision, Charlotte Russe, clarified and reasserted the broad scope of implied disparagement coverage, a position the second…

Santa’s Best Craft, LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 941 N.E.2d 291, 304-05 (Ill. App. Ct. (1st Dist., 2d Div.) 2010) The court’s decision requiring “actual coverage” only comports with earlier precedent if potential coverage of the claim asserted was found not to be a “primary focus” at the time of settlement. But under Zurich’s…